My Goals of 2015 - Did I Succeed?

It's time to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to a new writing year.

As usual, at the beginning of the year, I sat down with writing chum Tracy Fells over teacakes and set myself some writing goals for the year - you can read the full post here.

So how did I do?

Below are the goals in brief and whether or not I achieved them.

Goal: To continue to write one short story a week.
Achieved? Sort of. I can't say that I wrote a story absolutely every week for the whole year (due to holidays etc.) but I did manage to keep up the output most weeks even while writing the novel.

Goal: Write at least 40,000 words of my novel by the end of August to submit to the RNA New Writers' scheme reader.
Achieved? Yes! I sent 54,000 words to the reader and completed the novel (85,000 words) in September.

Goal: Go to the RNA conference
Achieved? Yes! I went, I saw... I conquered (my tube phobia). It was a great weekend and you can read all about it here.

Goal: To self-publish another collection of magazine stories.
Achieved? Yes! I published The Last Rose (Stories of family and Friendship) in March. This collection contains stories from The People's Friend, Take a Break Fiction Feast and Woman's Weekly and I am thrilled with it.

Which leads me very nicely to my end of year present to you. The last Rose is on Kindle Countdown for one week only at a bargain price of 99p! So if you had a new e-reader for Christmas, it might be a welcome addition to your collection. You can buy it here from Amazon.

All that's left is to wish you all  a very Happy New Year and I hope you will continue to enjoy my blog in 2016.

My Writing Year 2015

Today I am going to be looking back at all the lovely things that have happened in 2015 (excluding general story sales or publications).

January - The year started as usual with teacakes and goal setting with writing chum, Tracy Fells. I joined the RNA New Writers' Scheme and author Ben Adams wrote a guest  post.

February - Met Karen Aldous in London for a celebrity make-over with daughter Gemma as a prize win.

March - A fanfare to celebrate the Publication and Launch party for story collection The Last Rose. As part of my bog tour I was guest on these  blogs The Write Romantics, Anne Harvey, Write Minds Write Place, Karen Aldous, Ben Adams, Never too Late to Write.

April - My first serial, Charlotte's War, was published in The People's Friend. I had an article published in Writing Magazine on writing serials. Patsy Collins and Samantha Tonge were blog guests. Went to the Riot Jive Weekend on Hayling Island.

May - Had a wonderful holiday to Vengen in Switzerland and a weekend at Corfe Castle. Alison May was my blog guest. I am guest on A Woman's Wisdom blog.

June - Had three lovely guests on my blog: Julie Shackman, Malcolm Welshman and The People's Friend Fiction editor, Shirley Blair talking about writing serials for the magazine.

July - I attended my first RNA Writers' Conference in London. Deirdre Palmer was my blog guest and I had a lovely boating holiday on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

August - Entered the #PitchCB contest and had two agents 'favourite' my novel pitch. Had a story in The People's Friend Annual 2016. Merryn Allingham was my blog guest. I was asked to be competition judge for the SWWJ John Walter Salver award.

September - Had my second serial, Life at Babcock published in The People's Friend magazine. I was interviewed by Doug McPherson for his article on breaking into serials in Writers' Forum. Writing chum Tracy Fells and I joined forces to discuss writing buddies in Lyn Hackles' 'Novel Ideas' column in writing Magazine. I was featured author on the Writing and Wellness blog. Had a weekend in Bordeaux with my girlfriends. Went on a wonderful research trip to Skopelos and Alonissos and finally finished my novel.

October - Sold my 100th story to The People's Friend. Samantha Tonge and Julia Gibbs were guests on my blog.

November - Went to the RNA Winter Party in London. Patsy Collins and Leonora Frances were my blog guests. I was guest on Elaina James' and Susanna Bavin's blogs. Had my novel back from my RNA NWS reader.

December - I was special guest at the SWWJ Christmas tea in London, along with Sir Tim Rice, where I awarded the prizes for the story competition. Had four Christmas stories published in magazines. I was guest on Rachel Brimble's  blog.

Now I'm off to have a sherry and a mince pie so all that's left is to wish all you lovely readers a very Happy Christmas and thank you all for supporting my blog through another year!

My People's Friend Journey to 100 Stories

This week was a bit of a milestone as I sold my hundredth story to the lovely magazine The People's Friend (bringing my magazine sales to nearly 150). If someone had told me this would happen when I sent off my first story to them in 2012, I would never have believed it.

My People's Friend journey started like this. I sent a few stories at the beginning of the year and received the standard rejection letter - very quickly as it happens. I wasn't downheartened though as I had sent them off without expectation. Looking back at those first stories I realise that they really weren't that good (although I've since used the basic ideas and themes to write other stories that have found a home) and am not surprised they were rejected.

Then I received a letter from a real live editor... oh yes indeed! In fact it was from my lovely editor of three years, Alan. Okay, so it wasn't an acceptance but it gave me hope. I'll let you read the blog post I wrote about this. It's short and sweet and had no comments as I was new to blogging then. In fact I doubt anyone ever read it. It's called Resubmissions, Resubmissions

I must say I chuckled to myself when I read the sentence, 'I think I have become very stubborn about this magazine - I have made it my mission to have a story accepted.' 

Thank goodness I did!

It was then that I decided to try writing about something close to my heart - dancing - which has been a hobby of mine for over twenty years. At the time, I was doing Zumba classes and had also started ballroom lessons so decided to merge both of these into a story.

My passion for the subject must have showed because the next letter I received wasn't a general rejection but  one full of suggestions as to how to make my story better. Here's a little clip of it. As you can imagine, I was over the moon and sat down and made all the changes there and then, sending it out before the next post. A couple of months later, I went on holiday and came back to an email telling me that my dance story had been sold. Dancing Queen was published in The People's Friend Special the following February.

The post I wrote next is still as relevant today as it was then. It's called The People's Friend - A Friend Indeed.

The rest is history really. Having got a feel for The Friend readership, I continued to write and found more and more of my stories accepted. All this time I worked closely with my editor and I know that his invaluable advice has made me a better writer. When magazine editor Angela Gilchrist said in Writing Magazine 'if we see potential in a writer, the fiction team will work very hard with that person to get them their first acceptance' I can do nothing but agree with her.

I went on to write serials for the magazine and even wrote an article for fiction Editor, Shirley Blair, on the subject for Writing Magazine

Writing for the magazine has also gained me a new friend - fellow People's Friend writer and workshop leader, Alison Carter. We share the same editor and when he spotted we lived near to each other, I got in touch. We now meet regularly to eat cake and chat about the writing world and Alan likes to call himself a matchmaker!


In fact I feel very honoured to have had my name alongside Alison's in a People's Friend tweet, advertising their guidelines as Alison is a great writer whose sales far exceed mine. You can read their guidelines here.

I hope that reading this post on my journey to my hundredth sale to the magazine will give other writers encouragement to persevere. The magazine might be called The People's Friend, but the editorial staff soon become the writers' friends.

You might like to get an idea of the sort of stories I've written for the magazine. The ones in my romantic story collection, Room in Your Heart, have all previously been published in The People's Friend as have many of the ones in The Last Rose.

They are available in both ebook and paperback and can be bought here from Amazon.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I hope you won't mind that I haven't written a proper blog post today but I thought that instead, I would point you in the direction of the guest blogs and interviews I've been doing over the past couple of weeks since publishing my short story collection, The Last Rose. I would hate you to have missed them.

I'd like to thank all of the lovely people who have welcomed me with open arms onto their blogs. Please do pop over and have a read - you never know, you might find out something you didn't know about me!

These are the lovely people I have been talking to:

The Write Romantics

Anne Harvey

Write Minds Write Place

Karen Aldous

Ben Adams

Never Too Late to Write

Also, thank you Tracy for a generous bit of promo.

Please do support these great bloggers - I like to think of us all helping each other.

Stories for Special People

Last week was very exciting with the launch of my second short story collection, The Last Rose. The stories are about family and friendship but it was only recently that I realised how many of them have been directly inspired by my own family and friends: things we've done together, something they've said or just distant memories.

In today's blog post I am going to give you a little snippet of some of the stories and tell you how the special people in my life helped them to come about.

Saying Goodbye to Summer:

Without a backward glance and with no uncertainty in her young mind, Summer had left her a blown kiss and a heart full of memories.

Summer is leaving for university, but the description of that moment was based on the day my own daughter left home.

New Beginnings:

Dear Nan. I am finding it hard to sleep even though Mum sings to me and rocks me. I didn't mean to make her tired but I miss her when she puts me down in my cot. Maybe I'll sleep better tomorrow. Love Alex.

My close friend's daughter used to send her text messages from her new baby grandson. Her wonderful anecdotes about her family have inspired many of my other stories.

Just Maybe:

She rested her arms on the stone wall and breathed in the sweet scent of jasmine that, despite being September, was still in full bloom. Behind her, a yellow lilo drifted across the pool. Bliss.
"If you've taken my ipod, you'll wish you'd never been born!"

I wrote this after my lovely step-daughter decided our two families should go on holiday together to 'bond'. We're still thinking about it!

Links in a Chain:

"Is this yours?"
Erin nodded and her eyes filled at the sight of her beautiful necklace - so precious because her mother had given it to her - but broken now.

My daughter and I wear identical thin gold necklaces. One day, I noticed she wasn't wearing it and 'Links in a Chain' was the story I came up with as an explanation. (It's her birthday next week and I've bought her another... shhh.)

A Growing Family:

"Same old book, Nan?"
"Of course. I wouldn't use anything else. Now hold your head straight." Lifting his head a fraction, she placed the book flat on his head before making a new mark with her pen. "Still growing, I see."

My door frame shows height marks for my children, step-children and grandchildren!

The Last Rose:

Ron sees me looking at the flower beds.
"As you can see, I don't really know what I'm doing. Glad used to have it all worked out in her head. She knew what was tall and what was short and everything was in its right place. It's not exactly what she would have had in mind."
"Well, I think it's marvellous," I say, and I mean it.

My father-in-law loves his vegetable garden and left the flower planting to my mother-in-law. When she sadly died a few years ago, he carried on with the flower garden in her memory. It may not be as well planned but it's always a riot of colour!

And finally - the image of the perfect bloom in the story is inspired by the beautiful apricot rose in my mother's garden.

So many special memories... so many special people.

With Mother's Day coming up, if you would like to spoil that special someone, you can buy The Last Rose here
Available for Kindle or in paperback.

The Last Rose Launch Party!

Welcome to the party to celebrate the launch of my new story collection: The Last Rose. No, no, you’re not the first to arrive and I can see by the bottle of bubbly that you’re holding that you’ll probably not going be the first to leave either!

Let me take your coat and pour you a drink... oh, I see you already have one. Well, that’s the spirit. The pink champagne goes beautifully with my rose theme, doesn’t it?

Yes, the place is rather grand isn’t it but I thought I’d push the boat out as it’s the second book I’ve published. I’m glad you’ve chosen to dress up for the occasion – that hat really suits you and I haven’t seen earings like those since I was last in Primark.

I’ve made a bit of an effort myself. Do you like my nails? I can’t pick anything up but luckily Tracy Fells is here to help out. “More canapes over here please, Tracy. What do you mean we’ve run out? Have a rummage around in your very large rucksack - I’m sure there must be some more hiding at the bottom.”

I thought, instead of a buffet, we’d have a sit down meal. Don’t the tables look beautiful. Patsy Collins said she'd make me some rose table decorations but this is all she managed to come up with.

Please find yourself a seat at the table, there are some fabulous cakes and desserts which will be coming round soon. No, there’s not point in fighting to sit next to Della Galton or Teresa Ashby, they are not going to give away the secrets of their success. And just because Shirley from The People’s Friend is here, doesn’t mean she wants you to hand her that submission... go on put it away!

While the orchestra is tuning up, let me tell you a little about The Last Rose. It’s a collection of thirteen short stories about family and friendship and all the stories have previously been published in either The People’s Friend, Take a Break Fiction Feast or Woman’s Weekly. Are there any stories about my own family in here? Well, the marks on the doorframe in my story, ‘A Growing Family’ can actually be found in my kitchen and both my daughter and I have identical gold necklaces just like the mother and daughter in 'Links in a Chain'.

There should be something in The Last Rose for everyone: some, like 'The Writing on the Wall' and 'All Our Yesterdays' are thought provoking, others such as 'Look at Me' and 'Feels Like Coming Home' are poignant. If you like humour, though, 'The Toast of Maida Vale' is the one for you. Hopefully, whatever your taste, you will not be left wanting.

Why family and friendship? Well, they are both very important to me. Here are some little people who many of you will recognise – my grandchildren. They are three of my favourite people in the world and fabulous for exploiting when you have a book to market. If you’d just stand over there little ones and hold up the book so everyone can see and look cute... that’s the way!

Sorry, I’m going to have to leave you for a moment as my editor, Alan, has just arrived with some music for the DJ to play later. Oh dear, it looks like he’s brought his whole 80's collection and I have a horrid suspicion that Kajagoogoo might be in there somewhere – I’d better have a quiet word.

What a fantastic cake! I’d like to say I baked it myself but... well, you know me too well to know that to be true. Do help yourself to a slice... oh, all right two then... and while I have you captive, I’ll read you a snippet from one of my stories: 'The Writing on the Wall'.

The word appears slowly. As I pull away wet strips of wallpaper, the wall beneath is slick and shiny with paste but with every upward sweep of the scraper, the letters become more defined. Some letters are written large and others smaller. The writing is bold and defiant, written across the blank canvas of the wall with a flourish. The light is going and dusk has fallen by the time I uncover the final letter... REMEMBER. Remember what?

No, of course I’m not going to tell you the rest. If I did, there would be no reason for you to buy it here, would there? I’m not that silly! It's a bargain at £1.99 don't you think? Don't like Kindle? You're in luck because The Last Rose is available here in paperback too for £4.99... just for you! Thank you so much for coming to my launch party. If you do read it, please consider leaving a review on Amazon... I'd be really grateful.

 

I'm afraid I'm going to leave you now and mingle but I'll be back soon. In the meantime, thank you for coming and enjoy the party!

Feel the Fear and Use it

When I put this picture on the blog, I had to stop my heart racing. To most of you, it is just a picture of a tunnel but to me it signifies everything I fear: blackness and small spaces and crowds. It's a problem that has seen me refuse to use the London underground, visit caves or basically go anywhere with no natural light or the potential to be trapped in darkness.

Unlike some people with claustrophobia, I can pinpoint the exact moment my problem started. I was very little and had arrived in France for a holiday with my parents. I'd fallen asleep in the car and been carried into the gite we were staying in and put to bed. When I woke in the middle of the night, the room was dark... in fact it was so pitched black it felt like I could touch it. I remember holding out my hand to try to push it aside. My first thought was that I had gone blind, swiftly followed by the fear that maybe I had died.

Still thinking I was in my bedroom at home, I got out of bed and felt my way around the wall to where the door should have been but it wasn't there and neither was the light switch. I can feel the mounting panic even now, over forty years later. Of course, I know now that the reason the room was so dark was because the French shutters on the windows had been closed so that no light was able get in. To this day, if I am staying anywhere away from home, I have to make sure that the there is at least a chink of light coming into the room through the curtains.

Fast forward thirty years and I am on a tube train with my sister. It's rush hour... it's hot... the train slows... then stops... the lights flicker.

I won't tell you more because it would spoil it for anyone wanting to read my latest story, 'Out of the Dark', in The People's Friend Special. The story came about because I was determined to take my fear and turn it into something positive. I decided to write about what would happen if someone like myself were forced into a situation where they had to confront their worst fear.

I'm pleased with 'Out of the Dark' because I was able to take the essence of my fear and use it to help write the important scenes, such as the one at the tube station. 

Interestingly, the story itself is a big departure from what you might expect from a People's Friend story. There are no cosy kitchen scenes or kittens - just someone trying to overcome a fear to help someone they love. There is also another reason this story is different from the norm but I can't tell you that either without spoiling the ending. Never underestimate the type of story this magazine will accept.

Claustrophobia can still be a problem for me at times (just ask my husband) but I am trying to manage it and I think I am a little better than I was but the moral of this story is to think of something that has happened to you that has caused extreme emotion: fear, hate, jealousy, sorrow and use it to bring your stories to life. You'd be surprised at how affective it can be.

On a lighter note, I have a very exciting announcement. My second collection of short stories, The Last Rose, will be published on 2 March  and everyone is invited to the launch party on my blog next Monday. It will be open house all day and there will be music, good food and the chance to win a free paperback. Hope to see you there!